It Takes More

I stood in the hotel lobby, waiting for the picky lady in front of me to settle on a suitable room so I could find out which rooms my brother and his band was staying in. “Can I help you?” the tired-looking woman behind the counter, whose nametag read Kat, asked once the obnoxious woman picked up her bags and took off toward the elevators.

“Uh, yes. Can you please tell me which room Jack Barakat is staying in?”

Kat typed my brother’s name into her desktop computer. “I’ll have to call his room to make sure he is okay with me giving out the room number.”

As she picked up the phone next to her computer I laid my hands flat on the countertop as I leaned forward. “Before you do that, do you know if he’s sharing the room with anyone?”

She looked at the computer screen to confirm, “Yes. He has one guest listed.” I nodded as she continued to dial my brother’s room number. “Hello, this is Kat at the front desk. Is this Mr. Barakat?” she asked. After a pause, she continued. “Well, Mr. Barakat, I have a young lady down here inquiring about your room number. It is company policy that we get your permission before handing out personal information. Is it okay to give a Miss—” she paused, looking at me expectantly.

“Elena Barakat.”

“—Miss Barakat your room number?” After another pause, she thanked Jack before hanging up the phone. She scribbled something on a notepad before pushing it across the counter. “Mr. Barakat said its okay for you to go on up. He’s on the fifth floor.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly before following the direction of the woman previously in front of me, in search of the elevators. Climbing in the first available car, I pressed the glowing button for the fifth floor.

As the doors closed, I held my breath. I couldn’t help but second guess if coming to New York was a good idea or not. What if forgiving Alex wasn’t the best thing to do? What if choosing Alex over Asher was a mistake?

The bell dinged overhead as the car came to a jolting stop before the doors slid open. I forced my feet to take me down the hall, my eyes scanning the room numbers as I pushed myself closer and closer to Jack’s. Finally, standing in front of the white door with bold numbers in the center, I raised a fist to knock. But I couldn’t bring my knuckles to come in contact with the wood. I let out a breath, chanting over and over in my head, it’s okay, it’ll be okay.

Just as I gained the courage to knock on the door, I heard laughter spill out of the room across from Jack’s as the door opened. I didn’t look over my shoulder as I waited for Jack to answer the door, a faint be right there echoing through.

“Can I help you?” a familiar voice questioned from behind me. I instinctively closed my eyes, sighing to myself before turning to face the only other person in the long hallway. “Elena?” he gasped. “What’re you doing here?”

“Hi, Alex,” I greeted just as Jack opened the door now at my back.

“Hey, Elena! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Jack asked.

Turning back around, I smiled halfheartedly at my brother. “Surprise?” He held his arms open wide for a hug, which I gratefully returned.

“Uh, Alex, can you give us a few minutes?” Jack asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck as he pulled me by the wrist into the hotel room. “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I didn’t think you’d be mad,” I said disbelievingly. “Shouldn’t you be happy to spend another day or two with me?”

He sighed, sitting on the edge of the closest bed. “I am happy to see you, don’t get me wrong, Elena. But, you could have warned me.”

“Warned you?”

“Alex and I are rooming together,” he explained slowly. “If I had known you were coming I would have switched. Maybe I can ask Zack to switch with Alex—” he trailed off, thinking.

“You don’t have to do that, Jack. I’m a big girl, I can handle a night or two in the same room as Alex.”

“Are—are you sure?” His eyebrows knitted together as he watched me carefully.

“Yeah, Jack. I’m sure.”



“We were gonna go swimming. Do you want to come, too?” Jack asked when the guys got back from a meeting with their manager.

“I would—but I don’t have a suit.”

“You seriously didn’t bring anything with you?” he asked, not for the first time.

“I told you, it was a spur of the moment decision. I didn’t have time to throw a bag together.”

“Okay. Well, you’re wearing a tank top and I can lend you a pair of shorts,” Jack offered.

I took his shorts, changing out of my wrinkled jeans in the bathroom before meeting the boys in the hall. I couldn’t help but to notice Alex’s aversion to me. He wouldn’t look my way, walk or stand near me, let alone speak to me. But could I blame him? I basically told him to fuck off, in not so few words.

Down at the indoor pool, Alex and Jack were the first ones to run and jump into the deep end. I shook my head, laughing at the two friends as I stood off to the side. Zack was next to hit the water, splashing me and the pool deck from his cannon ball while Rian chose to take the slow route, climbing down the steps and wading in the shallow end. I stood with my back against the cool glass wall, observing the four boys in the otherwise empty pool.

“Elena!” Jack yelled.

I laughed before responding, “What Jack?”

“Why aren’t you coming in?”

I shrugged. “I don’t feel like it.”

Pulling himself out of the pool, Jack made his way over to me. “Well, feel like it,” he demanded. I crossed my arms over my chest, raising an eyebrow, amused. “Fine, you leave me no choice!” he wrapped his gangly, wet arms around my waist, hoisting me over his shoulder.

“Jack!” I protested, to no avail. As fast as he could without slipping and falling, he ran into the pool. When I surfaced, I pushed my now wet hair out of my face and searched for Jack, who was laughing uncontrollably. “Oh, you’re so getting it,” I mumbled as I jumped onto his back, pulling him back under the water with me.